Broward School Board Passes Ethics Code As State Review Is Set To Begin

FT. LAUDERDALE (CBS4) - As the Broward County School Board readies for the arrival of state inspectors looking into what the county is doing after a grand jury issued a scathing on the Broward County's school district and its management; the School Board took time to approve a new ethics code Monday.

The new ethics codes prohibits board members from taking gifts from lobbyists and prevents them from taking gifts from vendors and contractors. Board members will have to file quarterly disclosure reports instead of yearly ones.

In addition, they will be unable to take any campaign contributions while items are out for bid.

"We're going to move forward," said newly elected board member Nora Rupert. "It's a live document. We'll see more changes as they need to be changed."

All of this happens just one day before a three person team from the state's Inspector General's Office is set to start a review of the district to see if any progress has been made in rectifying problems pointed out in the report.

"The grand jury report is like the pink elephant in the room here, everybody's either referring to it or ignoring," Rupert said. "It just came out. We stink! Let's just say it, we stink! So let's just start there. The buck stops with me."

Broward County Commissioners are trying to look at more fixes for the district based on the grand jury's report. One such fix includes an interim evaluation of Superintendent Jim Notter, mid-contract. But other board members say the problem is bigger than just Notter.

"History should not be repeating itself," said school board member Robin Bartleman. "And changing the person at the top and changing the board members hasn't stopped that from happening."

In their report, the grand jury accused the School Board of gross mismanagement: building schools that weren't needed, opening schools that had not passed inspections and wasting millions in taxpayer money.

The report also alleged school board members were too close to the selection process of contractors to build schools and that created a climate of corruption. Two former board members have been arrested on corruption charges.

The report concluded with nearly two dozen recommendations for the School Board including mandatory ethics training and cutting the size of the board in half.

"I take responsibility for what's in that report and I need to, in fact, rebuild confidence in this great public school system," said Superintendent James Notter shortly after the report came out. "There is no excuse. We will fix it."

Notter said many of the problems described in the report have already been addressed by the board. For instance, board members are no longer involved in finance, insurance and construction decisions. There have also been changes made to the relationships lobbyists have with school board members.

Parents were allowed to speak for the first time Monday about the grand jury report.

"The state is saying this ship is sinking," said one parent who chose to speak.

Other parents said instead of placing blame, they want the board to do whatever is necessary to restore the public's trust in the school board.

"It's up to you to make sure he does his job," another parent said. "If he's not doing it, it's time to replace him. If he is doing it, then it's time to give him more direction about what you want out of him."

Still, parents are happy that at least the board is starting to address problems.

"It's desperately important we involve the public in the process and say we're proud of what we're doing in that room," said parent Jaemi Levine.